at least attempt to repair things which break down

Once upon a time, one of my favorite gadgets, my GPS, stopped working.  Rather than assuming I would have to do without it or replace it, I decided to see if the cord that allowed it to be plugged in to an outlet would get it to work.  It did, so I now knew that the cord that hooks up to the power in the car was the problem.  I was able to get a replacement adapter cord for much less than it would have cost to replace the GPS.
If something isn't working, check the manual to see if you can figure out what's wrong.  If that doesn't work, call customer service to see if they can help diagnose the problem. If customer service can't help, check the Internet to see if you can find a solution there.  Lots of people even post videos of how they fixed items which weren't working.  If it turns out you can't fix something yourself, you can hopefully at least determine whether or not the repair is going to be worth the cost plus the labor of a repairman (unless you know someone who'll do it for free or barter time).  I can't tell you how many times I, with my very limited mechanical ability, have been able to properly repair an item or safely improvise a solution.